Denise van der Mee

Denise van der Mee is a Research Associate at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, affiliated with the Faculty of Behavioural and Movement Sciences, APH - Mental Health, and APH - Personalized Medicine. Her research focuses on psychophysiology, particularly the relationship between autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and affect in daily life. She holds a Ph.D. and a research master’s in Neuroscience from VU Amsterdam.

Her work combines wearable technology validation (e.g., Philips’ EDA wristwatch) with ecological momentary assessment (EMA) to study stress and effort dynamics. She explores how mindset (e.g., growth mindset) influences physiological and emotional responses to stressors like exams. She also investigates exercise behavior classification (internally/externally paced) and its links to genetics and fitness.

Key projects include examining ANS reactivity to stress in laboratory vs. real-world settings and the role of cardiorespiratory fitness in stress resilience. She has co-led research on the role of vagal activity in school burnout among adolescents and developed novel methods to assess mindset-physiology interactions.

• Education:
  • Ph.D. in Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (2023)
  • Research Master’s in Neuroscience, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
  • BS/MSc in Psychology

Her research contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to health and well-being (SDG 3) through insights into stress management, mental health, and exercise behavior.

Grants & Collaborations: Collaborated with Philips on wearable tech validation, co-investigator in projects funded by the Netherlands Twin Registry and institutional grants.